Densho Digital Archive
Preserving California's Japantowns Collection
Title: Rose Nakagawa Interview
Narrator: Rose Nakagawa
Interviewers: Jill Shiraki (primary); Kerry Nakagawa (secondary)
Location: Fresno, California
Date: March 9, 2010
Densho ID: denshovh-nrose-01-0009

<Begin Segment 9>

JS: So your family moved, they moved to Los Angeles, and your sister came to Fresno and got married?

RN: Yeah.

JS: Uh-huh. And then you had your daughter, your daughter was born?

RN: Uh-huh.

JS: Yeah. And that was right before the war. So you were working at the restaurant then when your daughter was born?

RN: I think so.

JS: I think so, yeah.

RN: Uh-huh, yeah.

JS: She liked dolls, too? [Laughs] Okay, let's see. So... oh, that's right. Okay. So this is a special celebration? [Referring to photograph]

RN: Yeah, hina.

JS: Hinamatsuri?

RN: Hina ningyo.

JS: Hina ningyo.

KN: Where did all these dolls come from? What do they represent?

RN: Well, some came from friends, relatives, yeah.

KN: Can you talk a little bit about Senjiro Fukuda, some of your samurai bloodlines?

RN: Uh-huh.

JS: So the Fukuda family...

RN: Yeah, the Fukuda family. But I was carried by my Fujimura, my grandmother.

JS: Right. So this is Fujimura side.

RN: Fujimura. She was our mother's sister. They had no children. So eventually I was adopted to that family, and they raised me.

KN: Didn't your dad Matasuke tell you, or Baachan about being born samurai?

RN: Yeah, yeah.

KN: What did she say?

RN: I can't remember.

KN: That, "You were born samurai, we'll see how weak or strong our family's genes have gotten through you," right? Did you ever see the hina ningyo -- I mean, the Hikari Jinja in Hiroshima city?

RN: No.

KN: Where great-grandfather was born... I mean, buried? But didn't he say that you were born of royal family? How did that speech go? So... "Be very proud of who you are, because you were born samurai," right? 'Cause you told me that, and then I told Kale and Jenna.

JS: What did your father say to you?

RN: Huh?

JS: What did your father say to you about your roots in Japan?

RN: He was very proud of the family, ancestors, you know.

KN: And didn't Matasuke give land back to the people that was given to him? 'Cause when you went with Auntie Alice and Auntie May, didn't you tell me the story where all the families came out and they bowed to you and Grandma and Grandpa because they knew that they were...

JS: Grandchildren?

KN: Uh-huh, grandchildren of the Fukuda clan.

JS: Do you remember that, going to Japan with your sisters?

RN: Uh-uh.

JS: No? It's a while ago, huh? So what happened to the doll set?

RN: Huh?

JS: Do you still have the dolls?

RN: The dolls?

JS: Uh-huh.

RN: Gee, I don't know.

KN: Yeah, Janie has 'em.

JS: Janie has 'em?

RN: Oh, yeah.

KN: Big suitcase, trunk, remember? Weren't these real special, though? They're not made out of... normally they're made out of porcelain. These are... tell Jill how special these are. And remember the kids used to come for tours to the house?

RN: Oh, yeah, schoolkids come to the house to see the dolls.

JS: Wow.

KN: What would you tell 'em, what was the reason for having 'em?

RN: Like on Doll's Day, Japanese, they celebrate the girls, Doll's Day. That's when they came.

JS: Oh. So who would come to visit?

RN: All those little kids from the school.

JS: You invited your whole class?

RN: Yeah.

JS: Oh.

<End Segment 9> - Copyright © 2010 Densho and Preserving California's Japantowns. All Rights Reserved.